Labeling machine



J. A. MccoNNELL ETAL LABELING MACHINE Filed April 15, 194:5

Jan. 6, 1942.

Jan. 6, 1942-.l J. A. M'ccoNNELL ETAL A 2,268,750

LABELING MACHINE Filed Apri; 15, 1940 A 2 sheets-sheet 2 I I l Trae/vcrPatented Jan. 6I, 1942 Indianapolis, Ind., assignors to Eli Lilly and`Company, Indianapolis, Ind., a corporation of Indiana ApplicationAprilfls, 1940, serial No. 329,6:54

4 Claims. (Cl. 21B-55) locatedduring the labelingv operation. A plu,

.This inventionrelates to the labelingof merchandise and moreparticularly to the aflixing of a sheet, web, or .wrapperon a blank suchas a box, container, or bottle.

An object of this invention is to label a fragile blank, such as acylindricalbottle, quickly and effectively without breakage.

A more particular object of this invention is to increasetheproductivity o-f automatic labeling devices and at the same time todecrease the loss due to the destruction ofblanksin .the labelingoperation. Y

Another more particular object ,of ,this inven- 1 tion is to insure thatthe label is firmly aixed to the container.

The labeling of pharmaceutical products involves many. considerationswhich do not prevail in otherindustries.Y Usually .these products aredistributed in fragile containers, such as glass, which are easilysusceptible of breakage. Since the contents of these containers arerelatively expensive, any loss due to breakagein the labeling operationresults in a definite economic loss. Then, too, dueto certainregulations for pharmaceutical. products, the adhesive employed foraixing the labels. tov the containers must be starch paste and thisVmaterial is extremely diflicult to apply to the labels with apparatusat present available. y

In accordance withthis. invention a flexible sheet or web is affixed toa fragile container, such as a glass bottle, efficiently and quicklywithout danger of breakage to the container and a viscous adhesive, suchas starch paste, may be employed with the same eectiveness for ailixingthe label to the container` as other more mobile adhesives. The label istransported from a hopper to a holder for holding a blank or containerby means of an element associated with the suction head now employed onlabeling machines.. This element is composed of a resilient material sothat when it places the label on the container, the resilient portion ofthe element yields to conform substantially to the configuration of thecontainer with which it is in contact. As a consequence, no breakageresults. In passing from the.

hopper to the holder, adhesive is applied to the label by means of anadhesive applying roll. Tov

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rality of bottles or other containers may have labels aiiixedto themsimultaneously and after aixation of the labels on the bottles, thebottles are simultaneously ejected from, their respective L holders.

labeling machine which embodiesthe features of in section and a faceview of the transfer head 5 carrier I6 is slidably mOVea'ble along a.track n' nected by a. pintle 22 to a spring' controlled coutical rod 2l.A depending rack 30 and pinion this invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary front elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 1.n

, Figs. 3 and' l show respectively afront view employed in the apparatusshown in Fig. 1.

Figs. 5 and 6 are respectively a sectional view and a face View of amodification of the transfer head shown 'in Figs. 3 and 4.

In Fig.'1, a stack of labels I0 is contained .in a hopper l I of alabeling device similar to that disclosed in United States Patent No..2,108,628 granted to G. W. von Hofe and B. D. Dans ,on February 15,1938. The uppermost labelonthe stack I0 is conveyed by means of asuctionhead I4 to a blank, such as a cylindrical bottle I3, on which the labelis to be axed. The suction head I4 is xedly attached to a vbrace I5 andthe brace is .slidably mounted on a carrier I6. The

which determines the horizontalmovement .ofy the suction head I4 andbrace I5. An arm 20 controls .the movement of the Vcarrier I6 along thetrack Il by means of a rod 2| pivotally conpling 23. The arm 20 isactuated by the rotation of a shaft 25 whichv carries the arm 20 and acam 26. The cam 26 controls the vertical movement of a feeler ordeterminer 24 through a ver.-

3I operate to raise the stack of labels I0 whenever the feeler 24 fallsbelow va predetermined level. The carrier I6 andv the .feeler 24 arecontrolled in the same manner as the similar mechanism in the abovenoted patent. OneeXtremity of the feeler 24 terminates in a shoe 32adapted to engage and rest upon the upper label of the stack I0. Thefeeler or determiner 24 operates ,in synchronism with the action of thesuction head I4 so that the feeler 24 rises up from the stack when thesuction he'ad I4 is in the position to remove the uppermost label in theoperation of transporting' that label to the cylindrical-bottle I3. Thedotted configuration' I4' and 32' repre-` sent respectively the positionof the suction head I4 and shoe 32 of the feeler when the suction headI4 is located above the stack of labels in` the process of removing theuppermost label therefrom.

The suction head I4 has a chamber 33 therein which is supplied with asuitable source of suction through a flexible hose 34. The suction headI4 also includes an element 35 to be described hereinafter in detail.Passages through the element 35 are connected to the chamber 33 and in aconventional manner the top label in the stack I is held by the suctionsupplied from the chamber 33 in conveying the label from the stack tothe cylindrical bottle I3. When the label held by the element 35 islocated on the proper place on the bottle I3, the suction is removed torelease the label from the element 35.

In the passage of the label from the hopper II) to the cylindricalbottle I3, some form of adhesive, such as starch paste, is applied tothe bottom surface of the label. In the embodiment of the inventionillustrated in the drawings, this result is achieved by passage of thebottom of the label over a cylindrical adhesive applying roll 36 mountedto rotate on a shaft 39. The peripheral surface of the adhesive applyingroll 36 is in tangential relation with a cylindrical transfer roll 31rotated continually during'the operation of the machine on a shaft 38.The shafts 38 and 39 are rotated ,by the same power and gearingmechanism is provided so that these shafts rotate at the same rate. Thecylindrical transfer roll is preferably completely contained within areservoir 40 for containing the adhesive, while the adhesive applyingroll 36 is preferably partly contained in the reservoir 40. The transferroll 31 is rotated by the shaft 38 in a clockwise direction, while theadhesive applying roll 36 rotates in a counter-clockwise direction.Consequently in the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. l, theadhesive is supplied from the transfer roll 31 to the applying roll 36on the right side of the reservoir or that adjacent to a side 4I of thereservoir 4I). The distance between the transfer roll and the side 4I ofthe reservoir is relatively small in order to insure that adhesive issupplied from the transfer roll to the adhesive applying roll. When thisdistance is relatively small the adhesive which is supplied to theadhesive applying roll 36 from the transfer roll 31 is prevented fromilowing from the applying roll 36. By restricting the distance betweenthe side 4I of the reservoir and the transfer roll 31, vmeans areprovided for insuring that the adhesive is continually supplied to theadhesive applying roll 36. A distance of 3A; inch from transfer roll 31and the side 4I of the reservoir has been found satisfactory. A baffleextending preferably from slightly below the transfer roll to slightlyabove the jointure of the two rolls may also be employed for thispurpose. In that case, a larger reservoir may be used, but the bafflemust be located a relatively short distance from the jointure of thetransfer roll 31 and the applying roll 36.

The container I3 is held in a holder 45 which is secured to a supportingtable 46 and means are provided for adjusting the holder to locate thelabel properly on the container. The table 46 is movably attached toframework 41 of the machine. Means are provided for ejecting the blank,such as the cylindrical bottle I3, after a label has been afIixedthereto. This means comprises a piston 48 located on the holder 45immediately behind the position normally occupied by the bottom of thebottle I3 during the operation of affixing a. label thereto. The piston48 is normally biased by a spring 49 to permit the insertion of thebottle I3 in the holder 45. A lever 50 pivoted on the framework 41 ofthe device by means of a pintle 5I controls the movement of the piston48. The lever 50 is in turn actuated by a rod 52. The rod 52 is providedwith a roller 53 in rolling engagement with the periphery of a cam 54which is rotated by a shaft 55. A spring 60 surrounds the rod 52 forinsuring that the roller 53 is continually engaged with the periphery ofthe cam 54. The periphery of the cam 54 has an indentation 6I therein.When the roller 53 contacts the indentation 6I the rod 52 is suddenlyactuated to the right and this action imparts a movement to the piston48 to the left to eject the bottle I3 from the holder 45. Theindentation 6I on the cam 54 is located in a position in relation to therotation of the shaft 55 so that the bottle I3 is ejected from theholder after a label has been afxed to the bottle. The shaft 55 operatesin synchronism with the transfer of the label from the hopper ID to thebottle I3 by gears or other well known mechanical linkage and completesone rotation in the process of the aixing of one label on a bottle.Preferably the indentation 6I is relatively sharp so that a completemovement of the piston 48 to the left and its restoration to the rightoccurs in a short interval whereby a new unlabeled bottle may beinserted in the holder 45 as quickly as possible after the ejection ofthe labeled bottle.

In Fig. 2, which illustrates a front elevation of a portion of theapparatus shown in Fig. 1, a plurality of holders 45-45 and bottlesI3--I3 are shown together with elements 35-35 for conveying a label toeach of the bottles in its respectively associated holder. A hopper, notshown, similar to the hopper II), is provided for each holder and thelabel held to an element 35 passes over the adhesive applying roll 36and aiiixes the label to the bottle in its respectively associatedholder 45. By means of this system, a plurality of bottles may belabeled simultaneously. A short interval after the labels are affixed toall of the bottles in the holders 45, they are ejected simultaneously bythe actuation of lever 50, and new, unlabeled 'bottles may be insertedin the holders 45 to be labeled.

Referring to Figs. l and 2, the manner in which the vertical movement ofthe brace I5 is conventionally controlled is by means of two rollers 62and 63 which are mounted on a frame 61 which is integral with the braceI5. The roller 62 rides upon a xed rail 64, While the roller 63 is inengageable relation with a moveable rail 65. The roller 62 rides on thefixed rail 64 in the movement of the carrier from right to left, asshown in Fig, 1; the roller 63 rides on the movable rail 65 when thecarrier I6 is actuated from left to right.y This result is accomplishedby the actuation of the movable rail 65 through a mechanical linkage 66,after a label has been placed on the blank I3. The moveable rail 65,when raised, is on a slightly higher horizontal plane than the fixedrail 64 so that while the label on the element 35 contacts the adhesiveapplying roll 36 in the movement of the carrier I6 from right to left,the element 35 does not engage the roll 36 in the return journey fromleft to right. There is an indentation 68 in the xed rail 64 in theposition at which the roller 62 is located when the label is to rbeplaced on the blank I3. When the roller 62 reaches this indentation 68in the movement of the carrier I6 from right to left, the roller 62drops and with it the .frame 61, brace I5, and suction head I4 is alsolowered. vThis drop is relatively sudden and the element heretoforeemployed for conveying the label from the hopper to the blank frequentlybreaks the blank. More particularly does this breakage occur if there isconsiderable variation in the size of the blanks.

Fig. 3 shows a transverse vertical section of the element 35 shown inFigs. 1 and 2, while Fig. 4 is a face view of this element. The element35 to which the label is held during its transportation from the hopperto the bottle or blank comprises an inverted U-shaped metal block 10.The inside hollow portion of the block 'I0 is filled with a resilientmaterial 'I I, such as rubber. The element is iixedly held to thesuction head I4 by means of a machine screw 13. A plurality of verticalchannels 'I2 pass through the block 10. These channels are connected tothe suction chamber 33 of the suction head I4 shown in Fig. 1, so that areduced'pressure is applied to the label during the conveying operation.The width of the resilient material 1I should be at least as great asthe maximum width of the largest bottle accommodated in the device atthe point at which the material contacts the bottle. The depth of theresilient material 1l is suiciently great so that the material yieldswithout exerting a breaking force on the bottle when thel label isplaced on the bottle.

In operation, a label is picked up from the stack by the element 35 dueto the suction applied through the channels 12, adhesive is applied toit by the adhesive applying roll 36 and then it is placed on the blank,such as the cylindrical bottle I3. The suction is then removed, thesuction head and element 35 withdrawn, and pressure applied to thelabel. When the element comprising the resilient material 1I locates thelabel on the bottle I3, the resilient portion of the element, yieldsunder the pressure incident in this operation to conform to theconfiguration of the bottle or blank without any danger of breakage tothe bottle. With any given type of bottle, variations in size occur andany slightly larger than that for which the element 35\ was constructedto accommodate will not break. Further, larger size bottles may be usedwith the same element without danger of breakage.

In Figs. 5 and 6, there is shown a transverse section and a face viewrespectively of a modication of the conveying element shown in Figs. 3and 4. The element comprises a block 80 having channels 8| thereinconnected to the suction chamber 33 of the suction head I4 shown inFig. 1. The block 80 may be connected to the suction head by means of amachine screw 84.

` A pad of porous resilient material 82, such as sponge rubber, isfixedly attached to the block 80. Channels 83 pass through the pad 82 toconnect with the channels 8l. The element comprising the block and thepad 82 picks up the label, and after the application of adhesivethereon, conveys it to the bottle I3. In the process of locating thelabel on the bottle, the resilient element 82 yields to conform to theconfiguration of theblank or bottle, and the label is affixed to thebottle'without danger of breakage. d

While preferred embodiments of this invention have been illustrated anddescribed, various modifications may be made therein without departingfrom the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A labeling machine comprising a hopper for containing a supply oflabels, a holder for holding a blank upon which the label is to beafxed,

transfer means for conveying a label from said hopper to a blank in saidholder, said transfer means including a rigid member for holding a labelin contact therewith during the conveying operation and apressure-exerting means for exerting a uniform pressure on the surfaceof the label in contact with the blank upon the locating of the label onthe blank, said pressure-exerting means comprising a resilient yieldablematerial.

2. In a labeling machine, a hopper for containing a supply of labels, aholder for holding a blank upon which a label is to be affixed,conveying means for conveying al label from said hopper to said blank,said conveying means comprising two rigid parallel elements by which thelabel is secured in the conveying operation and an element with which aportion of the label is in contact in the conveying operation and whichimparts a uniform pressure on the portion of the label which contactsthe blank.

3. In a labeling machine, a hopper for containing a supply of labels, aholder for holding a blank, conveying means for conveying a label fromsaid hopper to said blank, said conveying means comprising holding meansfor holding the label during the conveying operation, and apressure-applying means for applying pressure to the label in contactwith the blank, said holding n means comprising a rigid member withwhich a portion of the label is in contact and which holds securely alabel in the conveying operation and said pressure-applying meanscomprising a yieldable element which imparts a uniform pressure on theportion of the label in contact with a blank and which yields to conformto the configuration of the part of the blank with which it is incontact.

4. In a labeling machine, a hopper for containing a supply of labels, aholder for holding a blank upon which a label is to be aiiixed, asuction head for conveying a label from said hopper to said blank, saidsuction head comprising a U-shaped metallic member having channels inthe arms thereof through which a reduced pressure is appliedto a labelduring the conveying operation and a resilient material contained withinthe arms of said U-shaped member.

JOHN A. MCCONNELL. HORACE G. BREIER.

